Toowoomba residents living longer, data reveals

TOOWOOMBA residents are living longer, new data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics has revealed.

The death rate for the region, based on population size and the number of deaths, has been declining year on year since 2012, indicating Toowoomba residents are living longer. Six per cent of the population died in 2012, while only 5.4 per cent of the population died last year.

Toowoomba’s death rate was practically equal to that of the Queensland average.

It’s a different story for the Darling Downs and Maranoa.

While that region has also seen a downward trend in the death rate, the rate is higher in that region compared to Toowoomba and Queensland, at 5.7 per cent last year.

Regional Australia expert Professor Geoff Cockfield, who is the head of the University of Southern Queensland’s Institute for Resilient Regions, said there could be a number of reasons for this disparity.

“Generally speaking some of those areas have industries that are a bit more high risk, involving machinery use, but that’s not a major part of it.

“Another one is diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases can lag a bit. We don’t pick up things like cancers as quickly enough as elsewhere and the need for people to travel for treatment can have an impact. The third one is often lifestyle and cultural factors. In some areas obesity and risk of diseases are higher than average. Various cancers like melanoma can be a risk as well.”